And Los Blancos may well have grabbed the win had it not been for a man-of-the-match display from David De Gea - a performance Ronaldo feels kept United in the contest.

He told reporters: “We created but did not finish off our chances, and this is wide open for the return match. We go there to score goals and go through. No big deal.

“We shouldn’t change the plan we have because we always have the initiative and we will try to win at Old Trafford.”

The 28-year-old has been lauded for his athletic equaliser, in which he leapt high above Patrice Evra before slamming a header past the otherwise unbeatable De Gea.

The ex-United star was happy with the effort, which secured a "good result", but thinks Madrid should have scored more to give themselves a stronger advantage ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.

“I didn’t see the replay of my goal but I will," he continued. "They told me it was a beautiful goal.

“This 1-1 is not perfect but it’s a good result. It was a good game. United are a very good team defensively and created a few problems for us but I believe Real played better and we deserved to score one or two more goals.”

The omens are not good for the La Liga side, who have never won a knockout tie in Europe after drawing 1-1 at home in the first leg.

However, Ronaldo's team-mate Sergio Ramos, the club captain, insists they can overturn the form book - as well as beating the Premier League leaders on their own turf.

He added: “The records and the statistics are there to be broken — and what better team to do it than Real Madrid.

“Despite the result we always had in our heads that we’d go to Old Trafford to win and maybe now the result obliges us a bit more to go and do that but also it’s true that if we go there with the same attitude things must go our way."